Advanced Conditional Logic

Advanced logic combines multiple answers, nested fields, and several effects into one explainable respondent path. Start with the general conditional logic guide, then use this guide when a workflow goes beyond one show/hide condition.

Model a Business Decision

Write the intended decision in one sentence before creating the rule:

Scholarship applicants outside the local region who are under 18 must provide guardian contact and translated documents.

Turn that sentence into field references and explicit conditions. Use AND when every fact is required, or split independent outcomes into separate rules. Use OR only when any condition should produce the same complete action set.

A rule should normally represent one named decision. Several smaller named rules are easier to trace than one rule that tries to own every branch.

Combine Effects Deliberately

A matched rule can change visibility, requirement, options, validation, value, input state, guidance, and wizard/tab visibility together. Keep related effects together when they express one outcome. For example, a document request should usually show the document field, make it required, and explain why it is needed in the same rule.

When the inverse path matters, encode it. A complementary rule can hide the document field and make it optional for everyone outside the request path. Explicit inverse rules make the respondent state and trace easier to review.

Nested and Repeating Fields

Choose nested fields by their full path. A condition targeting an item inside a repeating group must not be replaced with a same-named top-level field. After moving, duplicating, or deleting a nested field, open Map & test and resolve any missing-reference issue before publishing.

Prevent Conflicts and Cycles

Avoid relying on rule order when two active rules change the same property of the same field. Consolidate their conditions or make their branches mutually exclusive. The issue panel identifies contradictory effects, missing references, and circular paths.

A cycle exists when a chain of rules reads and writes back into itself, such as A changing B while another rule reads B to change A. Redesign the decision around an independent source answer instead of trying to force an evaluation order.

Review With Representative Samples

In Map & test:

1. Enter a sample for every intended branch.
2. Confirm the green dependency path and matched-rule count.
3. Inspect every affected field state, not only visibility.
4. Read the first false predicate for a rule that did not match.
5. Test empty, unset, and boundary values.
6. Test every path that hides a wizard step or tab.

The simulator uses the shared evaluator. Finish with respondent preview to check focus order, progress, copy, and validation messages as one experience.

Publication Contract

KinoForms validates the saved schema and dependency document again inside the publish transaction. Malformed rules, unsafe patterns, missing source or target fields, missing action configuration, duplicate IDs, cycles, and blocking same-rule contradictions prevent publication. A clean browser preview cannot override that authoritative server check.